Translation: Sarah J. Turtle &
Iņaki Mendiguren
Patience
Do not ask me to be as loyal as mirrors
if you cannot see yourself before you,
if you cannot see right inside me
as through a window resigned to staying open.
I am no lizard between cracks,
I have been taught to stay put.
I pass the days patiently,
unaware I am resigned
to hanging on to the house my father gave me.
I know nothing of other's pain unless it is mine.
From my perspective I tell you
not to ask me to be as loyal as mirrors,
I will not move
insofar as my breath orders me to stay.
I have been taught to stay put.
© Leire Bilbao
© of the translation: Sarah J. Turtle & Iņaki Mendiguren